


Choosing Happiness

by innerslytherin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-28
Updated: 2014-11-28
Packaged: 2018-02-27 06:29:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2682632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innerslytherin/pseuds/innerslytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war, Severus has a choice to make.  Eileen knows what he should decide.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Choosing Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks SOOOO much to [](http://lore.livejournal.com/profile)[**lore**](http://lore.livejournal.com/) for a rush beta!  Cross-posting this to [](http://e-prince-snape.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://e-prince-snape.livejournal.com/)**e_prince_snape**.

Her son, she thought, was long overdue some happiness in life.

It wasn't that she was unfamiliar with her son's sins.  Mothers knew their children's shortcomings.  They acknowledged the sorts of crimes that damned their children's souls even when conventional courts had pardoned them.

But when Eileen Prince looked at her son, all she could see was the little boy who had been denied everything from life.

Oh, she knew he'd been a Death Eater.  She knew the sort of hatred he was capable of and that he was responsible for the deaths of many people.  He had ruined lives, it was true.  But his life also had been ruined, time and time again--by that horrid Black brat, Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, the Ministry, and even Dumbledore.  She had feared that by the time the war ended, there would be nothing left of her son.

Severus had sent her into hiding when he first betrayed Voldemort and chose to become a spy among the Death Eaters.  He knew that with her public stance of ambivalence towards Muggles, Eileen would be a target for the Death Eaters, should Severus' duplicity be discovered.  He was unwilling to punish the only person who had ever loved him for mistakes that he had made.  In response to the Howlers Eileen sent after Voldemort's second defeat, Severus had been forced to lift the Fidelius Charm protecting her, and allow her to finally return to their world.  He had invited her to live with him at Spinner's End.  This arrangement had sufficed for the past two years, but she sensed it was all about to come to an end.  She had a feeling that Remus Lupin was about to change everything.

Yes, she knew Remus Lupin.  She knew the man was a half-blood and a werewolf, and that he had strong feelings for her son.  And whether Severus knew it or not, Eileen realised how Severus felt about Remus.

She was under no illusions.  Her world hadn't been ready for her marriage to a Muggle, and there was no question about whether the wizarding world was ready for two men to be together in a romantic relationship.  Once again Severus would be vilified, this time for whom he loved.  _Love_.  That was a strong word to apply to Severus.  But she believed that Severus loved her, and she believed he loved Lupin, even if no one else in the world would call Severus' snarky, grumbling brand of tolerance 'love'.  Then again, she might be wrong.  After all, Severus had become a Death Eater, mistreated sixteen years of students, murdered Albus Dumbledore, been a traitor to the Death Eaters, rotted in Azkaban, gained his freedom by pardon...how could he possibly be further demonised simply because he loved a werewolf who happened to be a man?  Or was it a man who happened to be a werewolf?

Either way she'd grown to like Lupin well enough in her own fashion, and she knew Severus was fond of him, or else Lupin would've been left standing on the doorstep _every_ time he called, instead of the first half-dozen.  Lupin was a persistent bugger, she'd give him that.  He certainly hadn't given Severus the opportunity to retreat into solitude as her son had intended.

From before Severus' pardon, Lupin had been a vociferous proponent of Severus' release.  Citing mitigating circumstances, Lupin had argued that Severus was actually one of the most loyal members of the Order and the man who had placed himself in the highest danger throughout the war.  Lupin was a bona-fide War Hero, recipient of the Order of Merlin Second Class--because, after all, no second-class citizen could be given a first-class Order of Merlin--and personal friend of Harry Potter (the Man Who Had Saved the Wizarding World Yet Again); he had the Ministry over a barrel.  They could in no way disparage or discredit Remus Lupin without provoking Harry Potter into pitching a fit--and if there was one thing Harry Potter was exceedingly good at, it was pitching fits.

Eileen knew Severus at first had thought Lupin came around simply because he expected Severus' gratitude.  That had changed with Lupin's persistence.  The man visited every Tuesday for tea, the full moon notwithstanding.  On the days when Severus was in a strop and unwilling to come up out of his cellar potions laboratory, Lupin and Eileen sat and exchanged pleasantries.  At first she was uncomfortable with him, thinking he only tolerated her company because he was shagging her son.  Then she realised they weren't shagging--or if they were shagging, they were being very quiet about it.  That bewildered her until she became convinced that Lupin did love Severus, and that he definitely _wanted_ to be shagging.  Eventually she decided to quit thinking about whatever happened on the occasional Tuesday afternoon she contrived to be out shopping, at least partly because they were always sitting quietly at the table when she got home, anyway.  Finally she and Remus learned to discuss the latest Muggle pictures and books.

Eileen had kept up with the news of the wizarding world for the past twenty years, but she was by no means a fan of it  She was a pureblood, yes, and therefore entitled (in the world's eyes) to all the perks that went along with her blood status.  The fact that she had fallen in love with a Muggle--and _married_ him, then had the _audacity_ to produce offspring--was, admittedly, a regrettable circumstance.  Most wizards were willing to overlook it since said Muggle's (Tobias, he _did_ have a name, Eileen,) death several years ago.  For her part, Eileen had never forgiven St Mungo's for refusing to treat Tobias' cancer simply because he was a Muggle who had dared to marry Jason Prince's black sheep daughter.  St Mungo's was much more willing to alienate Eileen than her father, who was a generous contributor to the hospital.

For forty-three years she had maintained a chilly silence towards her father--not that he'd ever acknowledge her, either.  She broke the silence only once, to send him a Howler after Tobias' death.

With a sigh, she put the finishing touches on Severus' cake.  It was a Tuesday, Lupin's usual day to visit, and she knew he had some sort of nefarious plan up his sleeve, because he'd told Eileen he would be a bit later than usual today and extracted from her a promise to lure Severus out of his workroom at half-seven.  She went over to the cellar door and pounded on it.

"Hurry up, you lout!  Lupin will be here any moment, and you haven't even had a shower yet!"

She grinned when she heard Severus swear loudly, followed by a thumping and clattering.  Several minutes later he appeared at the top of the stairs, looking dusty and dishevelled.  "Why didn't you tell me it was so late?" he demanded, glaring at her.

She looked innocently at him from where she was working the _Witch Weekly_ crossword and sipping a cup of overly sugared tea.  "If Lupin shows up before you're down here, I'm going to tell him you're primping for him."

"Shut it, or I'll cut off your supply of anti-heartburn potion!" Severus snapped, which made Eileen snicker.  He vanished into the sitting room, presumably to go upstairs and clean up.

 

 

Lupin showed up at 7:30 on the dot.  Eileen surveyed him calmly and took in his triumphant glee.

"Hallo, Mother Snape, and how are you this fine evening?" he asked smartly.

"I've got the cold and damp in me bones, and me rheumatism is acting up," she mocked, making her voice quavery.  "How d'you think, you cheeky bastard?"

Remus grinned at her and settled down at the table.  "I hope Severus is home."

"He's upstairs," she said.  "I believe I heard the shower turn off a few minutes ago, so he should be down shortly."

"You baked him a cake?"

"Just as you ordered," she replied, her voice dry.

"You know I'm crap at cooking."  
   
She snorted.  "No wonder you were such a dunce at potions.  Severus has often complained of that."

"It's a wonder he likes me," Remus said.  His expression seemed a bit nervous.  Eileen found that interesting.

"He does," she said after a long silence.

Lupin glanced at her questioningly.

"Like you," she expanded.  "He likes you great deal."

His shoulders relaxed slightly.  "I hope so," he murmured.

Eileen smiled and got up to pour them all a cup of tea.  She added Severus' sugar and gave Lupin his tea black, as he always drank it.  Severus had told her, once, that when they taught together, Lupin put two spoons of sugar in his tea, but after Lupin's time with Greyback's feral pack, he never took sugar in his tea anymore.  Eileen wondered, sometimes, what living with the pack had done to Lupin.  Other times she saw in his hazel eyes a reflection of the bleakness that had taken up permanent residence in her son's black ones, and she knew she would never ask.

 

 

Severus came down several minutes later and joined them at the table without speaking.  He was watching Remus, who smiled openly at him.  They sipped at their tea for a few minutes in silence, because all three of them were people who understood silence.  At last Remus straightened in his chair and looked at Severus.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," he said.  "Both of you, really, though I think it's probably a decision only Severus can make."

Severus looked distinctly anxious, though Eileen did her best to stay unruffled.  Why would Lupin want to discuss something with _both_ of them?

"I--well, I hope it's not a surprise that I'm in love with you, Severus," he began, his voice low.  "And I wanted to do something for you on your birthday.  I know we can't do the sort of things Muggles would do--I can't ask you to marry me, and I don't want to put you in the position of having to publicly acknowledge our relationship, if you don't want.  I know popular opinion doesn't look kindly on gay wizards."  He took a deep breath and darted a glance at Eileen, though he ought to know she wouldn't object, since she hadn't ever thrown him out (her son had, once, actually).  "But I would like us to live together.  All of us, if you're willing," he said, with a nod to Eileen, "because I know how important your mother is to you, now that she's back from living abroad.  I don't want to take your son away from you," he added.  "But I want us to be a family.  A family that we've chosen to make."

Severus was staring, dumbfounded, at Remus.  Eileen felt a bit off-kilter herself, for that matter.  She'd expected Remus to steal Severus, had thought even the normally perceptive werewolf didn't realise how much she loved her son.

She looked from Remus to Severus and back again.  Remus' forehead wrinkled.

After a moment Severus got up and walked away from the table.  "This is...very sudden," he said, his voice stiff.

Remus crumbled.

She'd never seen anything like it.  One moment the man was watching her son as if all his hopes and dreams were bound in a single body.  The next moment Severus had turned his back on the table and Remus' own body curled in on itself, his head lowering, eyes looking inexpressibly sad.  It made her angry with Severus, because she knew he wanted Remus more than anything he'd ever wanted before.  _What are you doing?_ she wanted to ask, _Why are you denying both of you what you want?_  

Yes, it was sudden!  But it almost had to be.  Remus had got as intimate as he could before he spoke, trying to be certain Severus wouldn't cut him out of his life out of an unwillingness to be intimate.  If Severus was going to remove Remus from his heart, Remus had done everything he could to ensure that it would not be a swift, painless surgery.  He had wormed his way deep under Severus' defences.  Eileen understood this, and she wondered if she could explain it in such a way that Severus wouldn't snarl and lash out at them both.

Then Severus turned, and she was astonished to see that his eyes were glistening with moisture.  "No one has ever known what I truly wanted," he said hoarsely.  "Lupin--Remus--"  He choked slightly.

Remus looked up, hope kindling in his eyes again.

"Thank you," Severus whispered.  "Don't ever imagine that I won't acknowledge you."  He looked around the small room with something like hope on his face, and Eileen felt joy suffuse her at the knowledge that all Severus wanted from the world was here, in this dingy room, in this crowded little two-up-two-down in a dirty mill town.  Maybe the same was true for Eileen, it was too soon to tell.

Remus stood and put his arms around Severus, who stood stiffened for a moment before hesitantly returning Remus' embrace.

"Happy birthday, Severus."

Severus peered at Remus, then bent his head and kissed him.  It only took a moment for both men to tighten their arms, holding each other close, losing themselves enough to forget they had an observer.

And for once, Eileen thought, it _was_ a happy birthday.  



End file.
